Sheffield City Goals and Project Ignite
A Shared Vision for a Flourishing City
Introduction
Sheffield is a city with a rich industrial past, a thriving cultural scene, and a deep-rooted tradition of community spirit. It is a place of resilience, where creativity and collaboration have long driven progress. Now, as Sheffield looks ahead to 2035, it does so with a renewed ambition to shape a future that is prosperous, sustainable, and inclusive.
The Sheffield City Goals (well worth a thorough read) set out a shared vision for this transformation. These goals were co-created through an extensive citywide conversation, bringing together residents, businesses, charities, and local government. They articulate six key ambitions: a creative and entrepreneurial Sheffield, a city of thriving communities, a place that is caring and safe, a green and resilient city, a connected city, and a Sheffield that works for all generations. These guiding principles aim to shape every aspect of city life, ensuring that progress is not just measured in economic growth but in the wellbeing and empowerment of its people.
Alongside this vision, Project Ignite champions a movement of connection and co-creation. Its principles centre on kindness, compassion, creativity, and empowerment, ensuring that transformation is not dictated from the top but emerges from the heart of the community. This report explores the intersection between Sheffield’s City Goals and Project Ignite’s values. It examines the policies, initiatives, and partnerships driving Sheffield’s future and highlights opportunities where Project Ignite can contribute to the city’s journey.
A City of Inclusive Economic Growth
Sheffield’s economic strategy focuses on creating opportunities that benefit all communities. The city has a strong foundation in advanced manufacturing, digital innovation, and cultural industries, and it seeks to build on these strengths to generate prosperity. The Sheffield Growth Plan 2025–2035 sets out four missions: expanding Sheffield’s role as a hub for sustainable industry, ensuring neighbourhoods share in economic success, strengthening the cultural and visitor economy, and developing a connected, reliable transport system that underpins growth.
The city is investing in skills and enterprise, ensuring that people have the training and support needed to participate in a modern economy. A key initiative is the expansion of business growth and investment programmes, which include support for start-ups, digital entrepreneurs, and the creative industries. The commitment to building 36,000 new homes over the next 17 years, with a focus on affordability and sustainability, reflects the need for an economy that is rooted in community wellbeing.
The alignment with Project Ignite is clear. Sheffield’s economic vision is not simply about increasing wealth but about ensuring that wealth is distributed fairly, that businesses are connected to the city’s purpose, and that innovation is driven by values of integrity and agency. The city’s approach to cooperative economic models, social enterprises, and community-led regeneration provides a natural space for Project Ignite’s principles of contributive justice and local agency to take root.
A City That Puts Sustainability at Its Core
Sheffield has pledged to become a net-zero carbon city by 2030. This commitment is bold and ambitious, requiring significant changes in transport, housing, energy, and industry. The 10-Point Plan for Climate Action lays the foundation for this transition, focusing on clean energy investment, retrofitting homes, expanding green public transport, and protecting Sheffield’s vast network of parks and woodlands.
Transport is a key priority, with investment in clean public transport, cycle routes, and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. The expansion of the Supertram network and the introduction of a Clean Air Zone are designed to reduce emissions while making sustainable travel easier for residents. Alongside this, Sheffield is investing in urban greening projects, such as the award-winning Grey to Green initiative, which transforms former roadways into rain gardens and pedestrian zones.
Project Ignite’s principle of self-reliance and sustainability aligns seamlessly with this agenda. Sheffield’s commitment to community-led environmental projects, from tree planting schemes to local energy cooperatives, provides an opportunity for Project Ignite to support and scale grassroots initiatives. There is also scope to introduce technology-driven solutions, such as blockchain-enabled community energy trading, which would allow neighbourhoods to generate and share renewable energy while reinforcing the city’s vision of a just transition.
A City That Prioritises Wellbeing and Inclusion
Sheffield’s City Goals place a strong emphasis on social wellbeing and inclusion. The Council’s vision is for people to live long, independent, and fulfilling lives, with access to quality healthcare, safe housing, and vibrant community spaces. This commitment is reflected in initiatives such as the expansion of Family Hubs, which provide support for parents and children, and the city’s drive to reduce homelessness through early intervention and housing-first policies.
A significant focus is on tackling poverty and inequality. Sheffield’s Anti-Poverty Action Plan includes targeted interventions to reduce child poverty, improve financial support services, and ensure that all residents have access to affordable food and housing. The city has also taken steps to become an anti-racist city, implementing recommendations from the Race Equality Commission to address disparities in education, employment, and policing.
Project Ignite’s emphasis on kindness, connection, and contributive justice aligns powerfully with these efforts. Sheffield’s model of community wealth building, which encourages local procurement and cooperative ownership, resonates with Project Ignite’s belief in creating economies that work for people, not just profit. There is an opportunity to expand participatory budgeting initiatives, allowing communities to have a greater say in how local funding is spent, reinforcing the principles of agency and co-creation.
A City That Empowers Communities
Sheffield recognises that lasting change comes from within communities themselves. The city’s new approach to governance reflects this, with the introduction of Local Area Committees (LACs), which give residents direct influence over decisions affecting their neighbourhoods. This is a significant step towards decentralised and participatory governance, ensuring that power is not concentrated in the hands of a few but shared with the people it affects.
The city has also invested in community-led projects, such as the Building Thriving Communities programme, which has established over 300 “Welcome Places” – spaces where people can find warmth, support, and companionship. This initiative embodies the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) model, which Project Ignite strongly advocates. By identifying and nurturing the strengths that already exist within communities, Sheffield is shifting from a needs-based approach to one that builds on assets.
Project Ignite’s role here could be transformative. By supporting skills-sharing networks, mutual aid platforms, and cooperative funding models, Project Ignite can enhance Sheffield’s efforts to foster local agency and empower neighbourhoods. There is also an opportunity to explore blockchain-based participatory democracy tools, ensuring that community decisions are transparent and secure, reinforcing Sheffield’s commitment to ethical influence and transparent funding.
Opportunities for Collaboration
Given the alignment between Sheffield’s City Goals and Project Ignite’s principles, there are numerous ways to collaborate:
Co-creating community-led economic projects, such as cooperative business hubs that allow local entrepreneurs to develop ventures rooted in social impact.
Scaling participatory budgeting, providing neighbourhoods with the tools and funding to make democratic decisions about local resources.
Expanding sustainability initiatives, particularly in community energy generation and regenerative urban design.
Embedding Project Ignite’s principles in Sheffield’s community strategy, working alongside the City Partnership to ensure that values of kindness, creativity, and empowerment remain at the heart of city planning.
Bringing technological innovation to civic engagement, exploring secure, decentralised tools for participatory governance and community wealth tracking.
Conclusion
Sheffield is a city on the brink of transformation. The City Goals provide a roadmap for a future that is fair, sustainable, and rooted in community strength. Project Ignite’s values align seamlessly with this vision, offering a framework for how change can be achieved through connection, compassion, and collective agency. By working together, Sheffield and Project Ignite can ignite a movement of empowerment, one that demonstrates to the world how a city can thrive when it places people and purpose at its core.
Kind regards,
Brian Mosley
Founder, Love Sheffield & Project Ignite
Author of "Uniting Hearts, Igniting Change"